We had a 13 hr car trip and we listened to the SOTW CD's the entire trip. My daughter loved, I enjoyed it but my husband was ready to jump out of the car by the third CD. We will be listening to the CD's one story at a time and doing the activity pages this upcoming year for 2nd grade. I am surprised at how much my daughter remembered from listening to them all in a row in the car.

I have a Cricut Expressions 24 inch with a mat and brand new in the box. We opened the box, read the directions and that is as far as we got with it. I bought it for my older daughter last summer and she has no interest in it. I have listed it on Craigslist and only got spammers. Like you said, the shipping would be a lot so I never bothered with Ebay. I'd like to sell it for $200. I'm in South Carolina, in the Midlands area if there is anyone interested and can pick it up.

My husband jokes about eating "rooster bullets".

That's correct, you only need a rooster if you would like fertile eggs to hatch. And yes, you can (and probably have) eaten fertile eggs.

I'd also like to know!

I emailed them to see if the science kits ever go on sale. I was told no, but if you buy it at a Homeschool Conference the shipping is free.

We have Buff Orpingtons, Easter Eggers and Silver Laced Wyandottes. The Buff Orps are by far the friendliest. All of my chickens come running towards me when they see me, but the Buffs want to be touched, are not flighty at all. My EE's and SLW's are not flighty either, but they do not like to be picked up. I have to chase them around the pen to catch them, and then they are ok with being held. The Buff's come up and almost demand to be picked up.

I love that when my daughter misses her bus (because I couldn't drag my butt out of bed at 5:30am to get her to her bus at 6:10 am) that I can very easily drop her off. They have an outstanding system in front of the school where the parents line up and there are teachers at the curb and they take the kids right out of the car for you. It's literally a drive-by drop-off. When my older kids were in school and I drove them I would wind up parking 3 blocks away and have to walk up to the school with them.

What is "tea"?

After much trial and error we found CLE. It is very easy to teach and my daughter loves it.

My ped's have always done a quick external look after asking my permission and my child's permission on both my sons and daughters. Nothing internal, just a quick look to make sure everything FROM THE OUTSIDE looks good. My ped also told me that my daughter, now 16, does not need an internal exam unless she was sexually active or having issues with her period. If she needed one she would send her to a gynecologist, not do it herself in the ped's office.

I love my chickens! I have seventeen chicks, eight of them are 9 weeks old and 10 are six weeks old. I would suggest doing a lot of reading at backyardchickens.com before making a decision. And, if you decide to get chicks, build your coop a LOT bigger then you think you will need. DH and I agreed on four hens, but I wound up with 17, and a lot of them are turning out to be roosters.

I'm in Kershaw County SC in a rural area about 10 mins from everything. Unpaved road, 4 acres that back up to 100's of acres of woods, 1900 sf home and my taxes are $450 a yr. I have a house in Burlington County NJ (that I can't sell!) and we pay $7,000 a yr on an 1100 sf house on less than .25 acre.

I'd love for you to post a picture of your cake when you are done with it.

As a mother of a child with autism, who takes three medications daily, I would love to hear that someone noticed a difference. I put off putting my child on medication for 7 yrs until it became absolutely necessary. It was the BEST thing for him and I regret not putting him on it sooner. Everyone noticed how much more comfortable he was in his own skin after he started on medication. He is now 19, a published poet and a full time college student.

Never say never. I know of a mom who always said she would never, ever own a gun, much less carry a gun. One situation where your child is threatened/hurt/killed and you could have done something to help if you had been carrying, and I would bet my life you would change your mind.This mom I know of went from thinking no one should own guns to be a gun toting mama because she had a gun put to her head while her children were in the car with her.

I believe it is definitely a regional thing. I lived in NJ all my life up until 2 yrs ago and NO ONE is allowed to carry there. Other then LEO and a few people in my family I know of no one that keeps a gun in the house. All of my friends thought I was crazy for owning a gun. I moved to SC two years ago and everyone I know has not just a gun, but several including shot guns, rifles and handguns. I know several moms that carry here. Generally, an unarmed person is oblivious to someone that does carry. I was very self conscious when I first started to carry but then quickly realized that I noticed a few people carrying concealed. Unless you know where to look and what to look for (ex..belt clips) the person that doesn't carry has no clue. If my thighs were thin enough I would try a thigh holster to wear under sun dresses when it's broiling hot here in the summer. I also like the bra holster, I can easily conceal there lol..but carrying IWB at 4 o'clock is the most comfortable for me. I wear it everyday, even while at home, and only take it off when I take a shower or go to bed. I feel naked when I can't enter a building with it and am required to take it off. I think a poll is a good idea.

I purposely moved out of NJ so I could carry my gun. I have a situation with my daughter where she witnessed her mother die in front of her. She told the police who was with her mother at the time and they arrested him. She was only seven years old at the time and she is 16 now. We have heard through the grapevine that this person was not happy with my daughter pointing him to the police and has made veiled threats. Threats that the police can do nothing about. He was even seen on our street at one time. I always legally owned one gun while living in NJ, but could not get a carry permit, even with my situation. We decided to move 600 miles away to gun-friendly SC and the first thing I did was get my carry permit. I have always owned a gun because it's my constitutional right to be able to protect my family. I grew up around guns and my dad taught me to shoot and respect guns as a child. I am doing the same with my children. My daughter, at 16, is a pretty good shot. When she is old enough to get her carry permit, she will. When seconds count, the police are only minutes away. As for the average mom carrying, they carry a LOT more than most realize. Carry concealed means just that... concealed. No one knows. And most responsible gun owners don't flaunt it.

Astrid, yes lol.. that is pretty much how you do it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNL5pqn3Eng

So much has changed in Chinese adoptions I can hardly keep up. We adopted our daughter (SN) in 2007, at that time it wasn't possible to adopt two at the same time unless they were twins. Now you can adopt two, and I believe if you are already paperwork ready it can be less than a year.

I carry in-the-waistband (IWB) at about 4 o'clock with an IWB Crossbreed Supertuck holster. Carrying in a purse is crazy, that's the first thing that will be taken from you in an attack. If you wear a dress, there are some pretty nice thigh holsters out there, if you have thin enough thighs, which I don't. IL and DC do not allow their citizens to carry. NJ is a "may issue" state but good luck trying to get a permit there, not happening.

OMG!! LOL... http://www.tamponcrafts.com/halloween.html

I hope your mom gets better. My brother (age 44) was admitted to the hospital in July in complete kidney failure. He had been in a car accident and the dr gave him prescription advil. He had been taking a ton of it to get rid of shoulder pain. His kidney function on his own is zero. He is on dialysis three times a week. They recently put a port in his stomach so he can do nightly home dialysis. Two weeks later he was back in the hospital for an infection that required IV antibiotics. Last week he spent a week in ICU. We are hoping to be tested to see if anyone in the family is a match to donate a kidney. As of now they won't put him on a transplant list for a while. Advil can have VERY serious side affects. I threw out every last advil tablet in my house.

My son has autism and is a very creative thinker. He was a published poet by the age of 12. I followed his lead. I had to get creative in my ways of helping him and I am so not a creative thinker! Art is everything to him. I bought washable markers and let him draw on my white kitchen floor. I would have him practice his spelling words by writing them on the floor. A piece of paper was never enough to contain his creativity lol. Sitting down at the table was unheard of, even for meals. He just couldn't sit. I took a milk crate and he would be able to sit long enough to verbally do some lessons. The milk crate gave him something to do with his fingers, and in turn was able to concentrate on what I was teaching/reading. In third grade he started at a school for kids with autism, and he really thrived. He is now 19 and full time college student. He plans to head to Savannah College of Art and Design next year to get his degree in animation. When he was younger I had him tested by a neurologist.

We switched our daughter to TT. It definitely helped improve our "math relationship" as I was not the one doing the teaching. BUT, I do think TT is a bit behind. I would have her take the placement test (I believe it's on the TT website), she might be a grade or so ahead.